Dennis Faas

Infopackets Reader Ed M. writes: " Dear Dennis, I can't seem to run Disk Defrag, ScanDisk, or Norton Disk Doctor on my system because other programs are actively running in the background and keep interrupting the process. How can I find out what is ... running in the background and stop it? I have asked this question numerous times to Microsoft and they don't seem to know the answer. I have tried 'CTRL + ALT + DEL' on my keyboard to bring up the Windows Task Manager, I get a list of programs -- but I do not know which ones are safe to delete? Can you help? " My response: Many users ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Nancy E. writes: " Dear Dennis, I bought a router to make my computer less vulnerable to hackers, but now cannot receive files from my ICQ contacts. I can send files, but cannot receive. I talked with D-Link tech support and they ... helped me to change a few settings, but to no avail. They said that ICQ had to be changed in order to get this to work. I cannot get any help from ICQ except a 'form' reply from their site which doesn't help at all. I am using ICQ Pro, and the router is a D-Link DI-704P, and am running Windows 2000. As far as I understand it, one of the ' ... (view more)

Continuing on with our Feature Article on Registry Mechanic, here are some top Frequently Asked Questions about the Windows Registry, courtesy of WinGuides.com: Q: Do I really need to fix registry problems? A: In short, yes. If you don't fix ... registry problems when they arise or try and prevent them from even happening at all, then you may soon find yourself faced with sudden crashes, system stalls, or a severe degradation in operating speed. Working to fix registry issues and prevent system crashes should be a top priority whether you use your computer for business or pleasure, and you'll ... (view more)

Does your computer seem slower than the first day you brought it home and plugged it in? Does it report strange error messages when launching program -- or worse yet, does it periodically display the infamous Blue Screen of Death? Typically, these ... symptoms are a result of a poorly configured or un-optimized System Registry . How the Windows Registry impacts system performance and stability Over time, programs are installed and uninstalled to Windows, and the Registry becomes bloated with incorrect and outdated information.(1) Many of the attributes contained in the Registry database point to ... (view more)

For reasons still unknown, the infopackets dedicated mail server suffered a catastrophic crash during a routine newsletter delivery (1.5 weeks ago) and was unable to boot back into the operating system. Unfortunately, the server's operating system ... reached 'end of life' about 2 months after it was put into service, and so it is quite plausible that the server was compromised due to an operating system exploit . The company which hosts the mail server for infopackets.com informed me that I would need to re-image (reformat) the mail server in order to bring it back to life. Since the original ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Margie100' writes: "Dear Dennis, You've probably have answered this question a million times, but I am having trouble finding the right answer for me. I am running XP and lately this PC just freezes up when I open just about ... everything. Pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL usually fixes it but I know that this is a temporary fix and it usually locks up again shortly after that. I've scanned my system for viruses, cleaned my hard drive using the defrag utility, and use scandisk to check for file-system errors. I know from your newsletters that it may be possible that there is ... (view more)

Over the last 2 weeks, Microsoft has issued a number of patches related to exploits recently discovered in Internet Explorer. Today, I received 2 additional notifications: one of them listed as critical and, if not applied immediately, may allow ... "remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a malicious website or JOB file." (Source: cve.mitre.org ) Yikes! This section of the Gazette is normally dedicated to answering questions I receive from Readers between the time that newsletters are sent out; however, this time, I feel it is imperative to inform Readers of the importance of ... (view more)

With the summer holiday season in full swing, many of us are snapping photos with our digital cameras to remember those special moments. Unfortunately, most software packages that come standard with our beloved cameras make it difficult to organize ... photos into meaningful presentations, let alone share them with friends and family. Introducing InAlbum: a feature-packed photo organizer InAlbum is an easy-to-use picture organizer that turns ordinairy digital photos into stunning theme-based photo albums, chalk-full of animations, clipart, and sound. Presentations can be shared online the web, ... (view more)